eating locally from Alabama to Rome and beyond

Fun With Fish

We spent the Fourth weekend on the Cape, and, for me, it was an absolute festival of shellfish, topped off with a feast of fish. (More on all that to come…) We were welcomed after the long drive with an easy going dinner at a new fish joint in Provincetown—Townsend’s. My step-father-in-law, Curtis, is a selectman in Truro, a big talker, and all around friendly guy, so of course he knew the owner. We shared the big family table in the corner with Becky Townsend (and daughters), who had recently coordinated, with Curtis, the creation of the coolest playground we’ve ever been to, in Truro. We ordered platefuls of the freshest local goodies around: day boat scallops, grilled and seasoned only with salt and pepper; lobster salad, fried clams, two dozen oysters—all of which had been gathered in that day.

We also had large baskets of fries, and I celebrated the summeriness of it all with a gin & soda—served, according to lobster-shack aesthetic, in a plastic cup.

On the wall behind the banquette where I sat, there were two representative family portraits. That’s Chris, the owner, on the right, as a young guy with a huge fish. And there on the left is his grandmother. What style!

We got to view the seven-pounder:

The weekend was really like one long meal. There were fresh raspberries growing in Anne & Curtis’ back yard, and we ate them with breakfast, for snacks, for dessert. Jack ate them right off the bushes, and weighed down my colander with his little hand, like Sal and the little bear in Blueberries for Sal.

On Friday, we had a leisurely picnic lunch with friends, finished with what was to be vanilla bean ice cream but was served as a stubbornly, meltingly delicious semi fredo.

Several hours later, after hot sun, strong wind, and frigid water at the beach, we were, miraculously, hungry again.

We shared three-pound lobsters, accompanied just with butter, bread, a Boston lettuce salad, and wine.

Then we ran after fire flies, watched an episode of Wallander, and collapsed into bed with cool breezes blowing in the windows all night. I love pulling up the covers on a cool summer night.